How are is social class represented in “House of Cards”?
Throughout the years of TV, it has done a good job of capturing some of the world’s most dominating issues and topics in a variation of angles in order to bring light to ones that can divide and unite many. These issues range from religion, gender, sexuality and social class.
One thing that controls all these is politics. It controls the decisions people make through placing a law or regulation that can stop or motivate an individuals want to do so. Although laws take time to place, and take as much time to remove, this can cause issues that can effect generations with all sorts of consequences. American politics greatly affects one thing in particular; the social class of the USA. This is represented well in the series “House of Cards”.
As shown on IMDB, “House of Cards” first released in 2013 onto internet streaming site, Netflix hosts Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as Frank and Claire Underwood who work together in order to gain full power of the White House through revenge and taking vengeance on those who betrayed him. Set in modern day, it allows for the current political issues to be compared to those represented in the series, and although fictional, does represent some of the reality of life in and around the White House and the United States congress.
Many people in politics fall into either one of the top two socioeconomic classes. They live lives of wealth and the concern of money is not an issue.
Australian TV shows have changed rapidly over the years. The decades that will be discussed in this presentation include the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s and the 2000’s. Australian TV has influenced many changes in our society; some of these included fashion trends, hobbies, job courses, the food we eat, our opinions on things and, the way that we view ourselves and others. Some social issues have arisen over the years include the negative effects on our youth due to television watching.
Since television came into existence, it has evolved into a useful tool to spread ideas, both social and political, and has had a great effect on the generations growing up with these heavily influential shows. To these younger generations, television has taken the role of a teacher, with the task of creating a social construction by which many of us base our personal beliefs and judgments on. This power allows television shows take the opportunity to address problems in a manner that many audiences can take to heart. Many television shows present controversial topics in a comical matter, in some ways to soften the blow of hard-hitting reality at the same time bringing attention to the issue being addressed. In the television show,
Television executive Lauren Zalaznick, gave a presentation called “The conscience of television” for TED Talk which she discussed past five decades of the highest standing shows on air. Zalaznick runs studies which go to great lengths on how the topics of television shows changed from decade to decade and how viewers changed the reason of watching based on what was happening in the world. Television’s conscious effects our emotions, challenges our values, and influences our views on the world by what we choice to watch.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the television became an everyday commodity in society. To go along with the already popular dramas and comedies, tv became a major outlet for news as CBS evening news and 60 minutes debuted (Herman). Sports broadcasting also made huge strides during the early 1960s as Wide World of Sports aired on ABC, instant replay became a standard in sports broadcasting, CBS and NBC both broadcasted Super Bowl one in color (Herman). As television gained popularity the range of the topics presented on television shows went to more controversial and relevant topics in hopes to relate with the typical viewer. The subjects of the television shows for the most part have stayed the same over the past 40 years, but some have
In case you don’t know, presidential campaigns cost a lot of money. Which sounds pretty reasonable, right? Someone running for president has to spend a lot of money to get their name out there, and that puts the wealthy right in the spotlight. Presidential elections are heavily influenced by the wealthy. This is how it works; the wealthy buy access to a politician(that
Congressmen and women who are able to campaign have more wealth than the average American, which enables them to build political
Moreover is there a “right” way to do it? Thus, by examining these issues in popular TV shows important aspects of our society are debated and awareness of of injustices is
Television, since its inception, has had a knack at being a mirror for the current state of society. Through this medium, one is easily able to spot the changes our culture has gone through since TV was first created. One example of this social shift, is that of the woman's role in television starting from the 50’s to the present. In 1950’s
Corporations rely upon the interest groups to sway the laws of the land in their favor. This can only be done by shaking hands and greasing palms of those on capitol hill. This means that it is very important that their interest and their wealth be protected. It is equally important for political figures to maintain political power and stay in office. Conversely, the wealthy will do all that they can to acquire and maintain their wealth. To that end, the wealthy tend to be intimately involved in the political process. Therefore, the wealthy often will donate to candidates or parties that support the same their interest. Views of the less fortunate and low income often conflict with the upper class. Likewise, the two groups are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to political views. This causes a wide disparity in political views. An example of this are the markedly different opinions on the black lives matter movement. Supporters of the black lives matter movement typically are lower income and because of this their views are often underrepresented and lack the political strategy due to lack of funding. Therefore, a potential candidate who is a strong supporter of the movement would have a lesser chance than a candidate who strongly focuses on agendas that support big business. Ultimately, candidates who support the views of the upper class have a larger advantage because they receive more
Social class is defined by your economical standpoint in our society. There are around 6 social classes in the United States; Upper class, new money, middle class, working class, working poor, and poverty level. The upper class is at the top of the United States, it also makes up about one percent of the U.S. New money falls in line behind the upper class, this refers to people whose wealth has accumulated recently or has only been around for a generation or two. New money makes up about fifteen percent of the society. Middle class includes about thirty-four percent of the population; the members of middle class are mostly in professional jobs. These people could include managers, doctors, lawyers, professors and teachers; It’s likely that
Today’s society has become a visually based culture and, as a result, people learn and act from what they see. With the advent of television, many programs have been aired ranging from news programs to sitcoms and from game shows to talk shows, but talk shows, today, have the most effect on the public. Daily, viewers turn on their televisions and many are bombarded with images of sex, drugs, and violence on the talk shows. Unfortunately, many people are either disturbed or affected by what they see. As Vicki Abt and Leonardo Mustazza point out in their article, “Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show,” “Surely long-term exposure to this genre has consequences for the
Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language
The importance of television goes deeper than mindless entertainment. It is an integral part of social interactions that builds communities and good relations globally. While it still functions as an excellent source of entertainment, it also educates the public and inspires lifelong learners. These learners often become educators just by spreading the ideas that they become passionate about to others and then, those ideas transform into action and changes that translate into realities beyond the television.
The power elite is able to exert power over society. The power elite’s control over politics demonstrates how inequality is functional. This validates the class-domination theory of power, which is distributed based on economic power. By controlling economic resources, the power elites political influence in government shapes law and those involved in government to the power elites benefit. In today’s American society these laws have impacted both the corporate community and the elite. Furthermore, the author’s portrayal of the elite displayed how the elite have control concerning choices in government policies, elections, and laws.
This brings me to television programming and how it impacts out lives. Television is hands down the most influential form of media we have. Hundreds of millions of people sit down each day to plug themselves into their favorite sitcom or program. Television shows help us not only structure our appearance but also shape our morals and